You can see the world by day, but what about at night? No? It’s time to get an astrotourism adventure. And Kühl knows where you should start.
Astrotourism, for those who are not aware, is one of the most popular trends in travel. The astrotourism trend takes travelers to locations where they can experience everything from aurora borealis and solar eclipses to low-light pollution areas where the stars appear as they were intended to. And according to Kühl, the outdoor apparel company, it might be more necessary than you think.
In a recent report, the company said that seeing the Milky way is a rare experience for most Americans. About 80 percent of Americans can’t see it from home due to widespread light pollution. Even more startling, over 99 percent of U.S. residents live under skies impacted by artificial light—effectively erasing the natural night sky.”
The team did a study to help people enjoy the night sky. They looked at five data points, including the number of stargazing activities, light pollution levels, dark-sky status, maximum elevation of parks, and number of campgrounds. The data was analyzed and the team named Great Basin National Park Nevada was voted the best National Park in the U.S. to view the stars.
The team said that if you have never been, it is like being able to step off the grid into the cosmos. This IDA (Certified Dark-Sky Park), located in a quiet part of Nevada, is one of few places where the night skies still look the same as they did a millennium ago. The park’s skies are rated Bortle 1 (the darkest you can go), and it hosts 53 stargazing nights a year.
It was suggested to head up the Wheeler Peak slopes to gaze at the stars, and “feel that you’re floating in between worlds.”
The cosmos is not only closer in Great Basin. The No. Coming in at No. Death Valley National Park California. It also offers Bortle 1 skies and is a Certified Dark-Sky Park, but it takes a more self-guided approach—one reason it missed the top spot. There aren’t any formal stargazing activities here. Just 12 developed campsites and miles upon miles of open desert. This is one of the best places to see a dark night sky.
The third place is taken by Zion National Park Utah is the only national park to have 59 events of night skies between July-December. The team reported that “the skies here receive a Bortle rating of 2, meaning they are not the darkest but still impressively clean once the sun has set behind the cliffs.” Zion is a Certified Dark-Sky Park with three developed campgrounds. Its sandstone summits reach 8,726 feet.
That’s not all. You can see the full list of rankings as well as their picks for the best places for an astrotourism camp trip at kuhl.com.
